A woman of substance
We had packed our bags and were all set to leave for the airport on Sunday last when Sadiqa, my wife, went to see Zubeida Mustafa, who lived in the…
Travel if you can
ITALIAN poet Gio Evan emphasises the need to travel without which the human mind remains ensconced within its narrow boundaries and regurgitates its own thoughts. One should travel, he said,…
A journey through fiction
Historical novels can be a good source for understanding our past depending on who has written them and how. In modern world literature, there is a fine example of Hilary…
Ruins of Takht-e-Bahi
The prime minister’s taskforce on Gandhara tourism has decided to dedicate every Wednesday to gain knowledge about the sacred historical sites related to the Gandhara era.In this regard, an educational…
Bias and prejudice
In a recently held meeting with the German parliamentary delegation at the Parliament House Islamabad, participants discussed various topics of mutual interest including bilateral relations. Germany is one of the…
A case for cultural appreciation
It’s easy to shout out allegations on social media. Anyone and everyone can state their opinion repetitively, using buzz words to get more mileage. It’s a burden and a blessing,…
Revisiting Afghanistan’s ‘graveyard theory’—I
In case of Afghanistan, most of the history books, travelogues, print and electronic media and anchor reports frequently mention the “graveyard theory.” That is, Afghanistan been the ‘graveyard of empires’…
Fighting the stone
AFTER spotting a reference to the poet Dom Moraes in my article on Ved Mehta, a thoughtful reader wrote to tell me that he owned a copy of Dom’s first…
Literature, politics, and resistance: Part – III
Some of my readers have wondered at my definition of resistance literature, which they find too broad and encroaching upon material that should be included in history or journalism, not…
Girish Karnad, Tipu and Tughluq
Not even a week had passed since the death of Enver Sajjad that another great actor, director, playwright, public intellectual, translator, and social commentator of the Subcontinent – Girish Karnad…
